I've seen this DJ in Starbucks before. He seems like a pretty cool guy. Congrats to him!!!
[doublepost=1491833156][/doublepost]
I lol'd so hard!!!!
[doublepost=1491833156][/doublepost]
I lol'd so hard!!!!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Said to Add Beats 1 Broadcasting Booth to Iconic Fifth Avenue Store in New York City
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
While I understand your point that it is necessary to pivot in the industry, the reason Apple has been faltering recently (and they now publicly admit it - which I find as actual courage), is because their computer sector is not receiving enough focus.
Must not forget what got you to the top. Great hardware and software integration for Mac AND iPhones.
There was a decade gap between the Camaro line from Chevy but when they finally released a refreshed model, it blew everyone's socks off in design, horses, and costs. Analogies like this are pointless because they're not one-size-fits all by any means.
Apple also blatantly explained that they dropped the ball and exactly how they dropped it - seething about it now is not going to change anything.
They really are turning into a goofy company. If they must do this to stay on top and appeal to the fans, then fine I guess. It just seems unnecessary but I'm also not the one looking at the demographic numbers in Cupertino.
Yep, 6 years after the trash can. Totally worth it, you are correct - YEA APPLE!!!!
Before you know it, they'll be having Saturday night dance parties at the Apple Store.
At some point, some of the higher ups in Cupertino need to ask themselves if they want Apple to be known primarily as an entertainment company or as a hardware and software company whose products serve as a primary vehicle for delivering great experiences to its customers.
The hardware and software seem to be plodding along largely thanks to inertia; but that can only last so long. Thankfully, with last week's "we haven't forgotten about the Mac!" PR dump, there is still some hope for those of us that want to see Apple be more than just an entertainment company.
At some point, some of the higher ups in Cupertino need to ask themselves if they want Apple to be known primarily as an entertainment company or as a hardware and software company whose products serve as a primary vehicle for delivering great experiences to its customers.
The hardware and software seem to be plodding along largely thanks to inertia; but that can only last so long. Thankfully, with last week's "we haven't forgotten about the Mac!" PR dump, there is still some hope for those of us that want to see Apple be more than just an entertainment company.
More "creative" pros use Windows today and it's been that way for a while. And Apple is doing just fine without whatever egotistical halo effect you think Apple might get from making creative pros the center of their universe once again.
"Computing as a consumer revenue stream is dead". Now you're just trolling! The VAST majority of computing devices sold today (ie: smart phones and tablets) are content consumption devices. Does the obvious REALLY need to be stated?
Who makes the content and what platform(s) they use to create is irrelevant. It hardly affects Apple's bottom line. The Mac is already a small chunk of their overall revenue. And creative pros are a small chunk of a small chunk. Plenty of professionals, like myself, use Macs, and we're more than happy with Apple's offerings. Sorry, your niche needs simply aren't Apple's focus anymore and never will be again. If their machines don't work for you, switch to PC like most creative pros have done.
Bottom line, here's why your argument is nonsense. Apple is selling more Macs today and is financially more successful than at any other time in its history - and today they are the LEAST focused on the "pro" market that they've ever been. Your argument is purely an emotional one, not a logical one.
[doublepost=1491838547][/doublepost]
And let's be honest. If and when the new Mac Pro is finally released, not many people will care. The Mac Pro is just a vanity project for them at this point. I'm not against it, mind you, because I'd love to see them come up with something really cool, but the the Pro was stagnating even before the "can't innovate my ass" trash can came along (which we all know wasn't a "Pro" machine anyway). I don't think Apple has been working on much in regards to pushing the Mac forward. I think they're more than happy to milk what they've got because the majority of their customers aren't that demanding when it comes to hardware. I'm sure they'll deliver on their promise of a new new Pro design, but how many people will truly care at that point?
Last edited:
Customer: Excuse me, will Thunderbolt v3 be part of the new MacPro ?
EG: Aiy..! Gonna get high ! Uwa awa uuuuaaaah ...! Ouhajee feeling great, man.
Customer: OK, but can I get to speak you ?
EG: Anytime soohooon. Sunsight, moonlight, auuoeeeha yeah yeah ! Music is in our genes, man.
Customer: It sure is - maybe too much. So what I wanted to ask...
EG: Wonga bonga day, hey, hey, ProudtobeGay !! Doyou wannaplay, firstyoupay with ApplePay... Jab, jab, tjabbadeh djangbang waoehha (falls backward...)
Customer: Ah, thanks, got the message:
Welcome to the idiots, before the boneheads take over...
EG: Aiy..! Gonna get high ! Uwa awa uuuuaaaah ...! Ouhajee feeling great, man.
Customer: OK, but can I get to speak you ?
EG: Anytime soohooon. Sunsight, moonlight, auuoeeeha yeah yeah ! Music is in our genes, man.
Customer: It sure is - maybe too much. So what I wanted to ask...
EG: Wonga bonga day, hey, hey, ProudtobeGay !! Doyou wannaplay, firstyoupay with ApplePay... Jab, jab, tjabbadeh djangbang waoehha (falls backward...)
Customer: Ah, thanks, got the message:
Welcome to the idiots, before the boneheads take over...
Last edited:
It's not a direct correlation, but I think they were more more making a sarcastic but accurate observation that Apple is making the news cycles with what most would agree are trivial things en masse, while ignoring the things that truly matter, product innovation.
I agree, it's very weird lately that Apple has been lagging in:
-iPhone vs competition (SGS 7, and SGS 8, and Pixel, etc etc etc)
-Mac Pro (any major high end computer) with 4 year old specs
-Macbook Pro vs competition (any high end laptop on the market) with 2 year old processor\ram
-iMac vs competition (Surface Studio)
-iPad vs competition (Surface Pro)
-Routers (killed)
-Monitors (killed)
-Apple TV 2 years old now (and still no single provider login for 99% of Americans as promised in 2015)
-iPod lineup untouched since 2015 (2 years)
-iOS largely unchanged in 2 years
-macOS largely unchanged in 6 years
-mac Mini untouched in 3.5 years (solution for one who doesn't want to buy a $5000 Pro?)
But hey, it's great Apple is focusing on things like:
-Taking a full year to add water resistance to Apple Watch 2
-Build a Beats One studio in New York
-Replacing gun emoji with squirt gun
-Adding "multicultural" emojis
-Adding a red iPhone to the line and changing all major city billboards to show it off
-A revolutionary "touch bar" with virtually no use
-1 year to make a new iPhone with no new features except a removal of headphone jack, price hike
-AirPods (3 months delayed)
-Beats X (5 months delayed)
-A new campus which analysts say Apple will never fully occupy
-Outspoken against Trump's policies while employing over 20,000 H1B visa workers to avoid labor cost
I guess that's all I have. Reading through the list it's really depressing, especially if you go back and look at Apple's release history in a set of years like 2000-2005, or 2005 to 2010 and then compare it to the release history of 2012-present. It really is a different company today.
The main issue here looking at priorities and revenue, is that Apple is now focusing on services (Beats One, iTunes, Payment Services, etc) for a bulk of their revenue. That worked for a company like HP because they went to a service model and when providing Business Services, it works because businesses are a lot more sticky, whereas consumer services can be gone in an instant, as soon as "the next best thing" comes out... And for Apple, it's super scary because their services are 100% reliant on Apple products. You don't buy a Samsung Phone and buy books\movies\songs from iTunes. You don't buy a Microsoft tablet and buy Office from Apple. You don't buy a Dell computer and subscribe to iCloud storage, and you don't use ApplePay with a Google Pixel phone. So once someone departs the ecosystem, there will be a period of time and then the revenue will drop from the big money maker, the services. Sadly Apple isn't seeing this yet, as they lose iPhone, tablet, and computer marketshare, but rest assured, it will come.
I would rather have a terrible Beats 1 broadcasting booth rather than a rushed (since they announced they are coming out with one) Mac Pro.
Does anyone even listen to Beats 1 ?
[doublepost=1491840903][/doublepost]
Good analysis. I can only hope that Apple gets back to products but we might have to wait until Tim leaves.
I've never known anyone to listen. They love to throw around the "most listened to" even though more than half their listeners are on trial subscriptions. I tried it out for a day and didn't find anything appealing. Oh, another thing for my list, free iTunes Radio stations. Sure you can still listen if you manually load a feed, but Apple doesn't have a nice tab with all the genres of music like they used to to help find free internet radio.
A rushed Mac Pro? They've got thousands of employees who have been working for years on it. I'd bet anyone who is in the market for a pro would have rather they just took the old design, tweaked it (aka shrunk) and not come up with the silly R2D2 design. When it comes to a desktop computer, it's performance\function over aesthetics. Apple used to balance performance and aesthetics, now it seems they've thrown the functionality emphasis on products out the window. It's sad. And the customer base has been reacting and fleeing.
Will there ever be a Beats 2? Will that come out with the new watch bands this year? Probably alongside the Twitter Edition iPhone X PLUS.
It's not my thing but why not? If you don't move with the times you become Blackberry. The brand is so strong at this point they could start making Apple Water and it'd be an overnight success.
I was excited when they released the iPod, I was excited for the iPhone (I still have the first versions of those device in my museum of tech-a closet in my office) - I am also excited by their Pro computers - with which I make the money to buy the gadgets. I currently own a ton of the tablets, etc.
But I need to make money on powerful Pro hardware - I make no money with watchbands or music services, so it is lower on my priority list.
We 'Mac Pro people' are THE early adopters of the, iPod iPhone and iPad and other devices, we probably suggested those products to you less tech savvy people. Cutting us out of the Apple ecosystem is a mistake, which Apple finally realized - hence the desperate, unprecedented announcement of the future Mac Pro. We're the ones people come to when asking what tech to buy - on a personal and professional level - at least that is my experience. I know I'm personally responsible for millions of dollars in corporate sales as I was consulted on purchasing decision for some major companies, possibly ten of millions - and that's not counting how much more via halo effect.
SUMMARY: The argument that the Pros didn't see the utility of the iDevices is just ignorant at best. It's just a dumb argument that should stop.
/rant
But I need to make money on powerful Pro hardware - I make no money with watchbands or music services, so it is lower on my priority list.
We 'Mac Pro people' are THE early adopters of the, iPod iPhone and iPad and other devices, we probably suggested those products to you less tech savvy people. Cutting us out of the Apple ecosystem is a mistake, which Apple finally realized - hence the desperate, unprecedented announcement of the future Mac Pro. We're the ones people come to when asking what tech to buy - on a personal and professional level - at least that is my experience. I know I'm personally responsible for millions of dollars in corporate sales as I was consulted on purchasing decision for some major companies, possibly ten of millions - and that's not counting how much more via halo effect.
SUMMARY: The argument that the Pros didn't see the utility of the iDevices is just ignorant at best. It's just a dumb argument that should stop.
/rant
Unless Apple has a major shift in talent, they would be unwise to rely on services for a significant bulk of their revenue over the long term. Apple has an awful track record when it comes to consumer uptake and/or reliability when it comes to services. Some examples off the top of my head: Mobile Me, Ping, and iCloud Photo Library. Mobile Me and Ping had glaring issues that caused them to never really takeoff. As for iCloud Photo Library, what Apple charges customers to store photos and videos in iCloud is totally out of whack when compared to what their primary competition (Google, Microsoft, Dropbox) offers and charges. I've got 1 TB of storage in OneDrive that I pay absolutely nothing for. I've got over 20,000 photos and videos in Google Photos that I pay absolutely nothing for.
At some point, Apple is going to have to either drastically alter or justify what they charge customers for cloud storage. The "our storage is very secure and we have a tremendous respect for our customers' privacy" line is only valid up to a point. If Microsoft, Google, and Dropbox were violating users' privacy and accessing/using their stored photos and documents without their users' explicit consent, those companies would be totally hosed if that was ever found out. If those companies have a shady EULA that allows them to engage in such practices by virtue of the fact that the customer accepts the EULA, that will eventually (and probably already would've been) uncovered and there would be/would have been massive fallout as a result of that. To date, that has not happened.
Yeah, I think you're missing the more important service... Music, Apps, Books, Games, etc... What do you need to run all of those? Hardware built by Apple. What is Apple doing slower than ever, and at lower adoption rates than ever? Building hardware. The existing users are leaving Apple in droves for other brand phones, laptops, desktops, streaming media players. Once they're gone, the service revenue follows. Sadly I think Apple has already lost enough loyal customers that they're not going to gain them back. And the service revenue won't be far behind. Why do I need Apple storage if I have 1 mac and 2 PC? Why do I need Apple apps when my desktop is now a PC? Why would I pay Apple for streaming media when I can spend $25 on a Roku\Fire Stick\Chromecast that does the same thing for 1/8th the cost?
[doublepost=1491849482][/doublepost]
The brand is strong? They're losing marketshare in mobile. They're losing marketshare in tablet. They're losing marketshare in laptop\desktop. I'm not sure how you think someone skiing downhill is gaining altitude. The only part of the brand that's strong is services, all of which require mac\iphone\or an Apple product to really use. Do you not think that's the next thing to decline now that people are ditching Apple hardware?
[doublepost=1491849618][/doublepost]
HAH, they'll likely be released in as quick succession as EarPods 2 were released. HEHE.
No! If Apple's goal was simply to become YET another player in the music streaming business, then they've succeeded. But if their goal was to become *THE* player in the music streaming business, then they're failing miserably.
There is nothing illegal with undercutting your competition as long as you don't go too far. Proving anti-competitive behavior is actually extremely difficult, the supreme court has set a very high bar.
Apple doesn't have to essentially make Apple Music free, but if they really want to win, then they need to grow their market share substantially. To do so, they really need to cut prices.
Also, if their end goal is to make the Apple ecosystem more attractive, then growing their music streaming market share would help quite a bit.
Frankly, I think it's a great idea.
Do I wish that Apple would introduce a new Mac Pro sooner, rather than later? Absolutely. I would be happy if Apple introduced a DVD drive that actually worked. I can't be the only one that still uses CDs and DVDs and hard drives.
Apple has thousands of employees. Who knows what they are working on.
P.S. Can anyone recommend an external Blu-Ray drive that works?
Do I wish that Apple would introduce a new Mac Pro sooner, rather than later? Absolutely. I would be happy if Apple introduced a DVD drive that actually worked. I can't be the only one that still uses CDs and DVDs and hard drives.
Apple has thousands of employees. Who knows what they are working on.
P.S. Can anyone recommend an external Blu-Ray drive that works?
Why? Is 99 cents per month for 50 GB (or $2.99 per month for 200 GB) too much? What kind of justification are you looking for?
"Can you fix my iPhone? I dropped it in the sink and now it won't turn on"
"Ma'am, this is the Mac accessories part of the store. The iPhone and Genius bar is over there"
"What, I thought this was the iPhone section"
"The iPhone section is over there. We sell laptop cases and headphones here"
Except a box where a guy is playing records is even more obviously not where you would go about a broken iPhone.
I can't speak for everyone (or vouch for your honesty, either). I do know I'm unlikely to care that much about a new Mac Pro. Most of my computing needs are met by my iMac and my MacBook Pro.
Apple is charging too much for cloud storage relative to their competition.
I want to know why Apple thinks it makes sense for me to pay them $900 for a phone and then have to pay them another $36 every year for the "privilege" of backing up that phone's contents to them. Meanwhile, I haven't bought a thing from Google hardware-wise and they're allowing me to backup as many photos and videos as I can throw at them for nothing.
Apple needs to build cloud storage and bandwidth costs into the cost of the device and make iOS device backups and backups of their contents (including photos and videos) to iCloud "free". I think they will eventually get there, but they should've been there years ago.
Wow. Not sure how you got that out of my comment. It's like if I asked someone if I could borrow a dollar and they then assumed I was broke.
My comment had zero about services and everything to do with Apple's current lackluster product line-up -- the complete line-up because again I didn't mention the MacPro either, you pulled that out of thin air. The point of my comment is that Apple is seemingly trying to look cool these day where in the past the were cool because of the products they pushed out.